Last night, DeAndre Liggins made his first start of the season — the second of his career — for the Cleveland Cavaliers vs. the Knicks. The reason for the start should sound familiar to Kentucky fans; yes, JR Smith was out with an injury, but Cleveland coach Tyronn Lue wanted someone to shut down Brandon Jennings, so he called upon Liggins, who is quickly developing a reputation as the team’s lockdown defender.

“DeAndre Liggins coming in and pressuring Brandon Jennings and relieving some of our pressure on the defensive end, he did an incredible job tonight to fill in for Swish [JR Smith],” Teammate Kyrie Irving said afterwards. “He’s hawking guys. I have the luxury of playing against him in practice and he’s picking me up 94 feet. He’s just an agitator and he’s going to play hard, he’s going to play his role and he’s going to do it to the best of his ability, which we need from him.”

Irving’s praise for Liggins echoes that of LeBron James from a few days ago, when James told reporters Liggins should have the game ball for his performance. Liggins only had six points in last night’s rout, but, as he told Fox Sports Ohio afterwards, that’s not where he can have the most impact.

“My job is to bring the defensive intensity and set the tone with my energy,” Liggins said, adding that he’s thankful to just do what he does best with the Cavaliers. “I can be me. Bringing my defensive edge, picking up guards full court, being disruptive, that’s what I bring.”

After sharpening his skills in the D-League — where he won Defensive Player of the Year twice — Liggins said he’s having the most fun of his NBA career with the Cavaliers.

“Yes, this is the most fun. No matter what, these guys are great guys all around, in the locker room, on the bus, on the plane. I’m a quiet guy, but these guys are funny and I love being around them.”

Calipari will always be famous for helping guys like Derrick Rose, John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, Anthony Davis, and Karl Towns achieve their potential, but he deserves way more credit for helping players like Liggins and Andrew Harrison develop into lockdown defenders.

On Sunday, DeMarcus Cousins was involved in an incident at a New York nightclub with teammate Matt Barnes, who allegedly choked a woman during an argument. This morning, TMZ is reporting that Cousins and Barnes are being sued by the alleged victims, Jasmine Besiso and Myrone Powell, in federal court.

In the lawsuit, Besiso alleges that Barnes approached her in the VIP area of the club, grabbed her “by the neck and began choking her,” and when he released his grip, she was “intentionally elbowed in the face,” knocking her unconscious. Powell says when he came to Besiso’s defense, he was punched by Cousins, and Cousins and Barnes then punched and kicked him repeatedly in the head and body on the ground. Powell and Besiso’s attorney says they were taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital and treated for “severe personal injuries.”

There are two sides to every story, but ugh, not good PR for Boogie. For more details, check out TMZ.

In the current five game road trip that the Sacramento Kings are on, DeMarcus Cousins has been putting on a show night in and night out. Through the five games, he’s averaging 32.2 points and 13.2 rebounds, to go along with 4 assists and 2.4 blocks per game. Unfortunately for Boogie, the Kings don’t offer him a ton of help, as Sacramento only won 2 of those 5 games.

Let’s take a look at how Big Cuz and the rest of the former Cats did in last night’s action.

Knight needs to be instant offense when he comes off the bench for the Suns. He struggled shooting last night, so his overall game diminished.

Tyler Ulis, Phoenix Suns (109-94 loss to Pacers)

Min

FG

3PT

FT

OREB

DREB

REB

AST

STL

BLK

TO

PF

+/-

PTS

6

1-2

0-0

0-0

0

0

0

2

0

0

0

2

+5

2

I want, more than anything for the former Kentucky guys, for Tyler Ulis to start earning steady minutes. I honestly think he could do real damage alongside a scoring guard like Booker, the way he did in college with Jamal Murray.

Julius Randle, Los Angeles Lakers (134-95 loss to Rockets)

Min

FG

3PT

FT

OREB

DREB

REB

AST

STL

BLK

TO

PF

+/-

PTS

29

9-19

0-1

3-4

5

5

10

1

0

0

3

2

-18

21

And Julius Randle joins Eric Bledsoe in last night’s edition of “How did he finish that?”

Meeks hasn’t been back from injury for very long, but his shooting is already making an impact for the Magic.

DeAndre Liggins, Cleveland Cavaliers (126-94 win over Knicks)

Min

FG

3PT

FT

OREB

DREB

REB

AST

STL

BLK

TO

PF

+/-

PTS

21

2-2

2-2

0-0

1

1

2

2

1

0

0

3

+29

6

Liggins earned the start for the Cavaliers last night, but didn’t have to do much, as this one was a rout from the beginning.

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Charlotte Hornets (87-77 win over Pistons)

Min

FG

3PT

FT

OREB

DREB

REB

AST

STL

BLK

TO

PF

+/-

PTS

20

0-6

0-0

0-0

2

3

5

1

0

1

0

0

-2

0

A slow start for Kidd-Gilchrist led to an overall subpar game last night. If Kidd-Gilchrist isn’t going to make shots, he has to be able to contribute more than 5 rebounds and an assist to stay on the floor.

When the Suns selected Devin Booker to represent them at the 2016 NBA Draft Lottery, the first person that crossed his mind was Jenna Warren.

Jenna quickly became the Rookie’s No. 1 fan last year, but that fandom quickly turned into a friendship, one that was celebrated by spending the day together in New York City before the lottery. An atypical friendship by outsiders, Booker doesn’t see it that way in this profile from NBA.com.

John Wall scored a career-high 52 points, knocking down 18 of 31 shots including 5 of 8 three-pointers. Wall also had 8 assists, 4 rebounds and 3 steals. He’s the fourth NBA player to go for 50 or more this season, joining Russell Westbrook, Klay Thompson and another former Cat, Anthony Davis. Unfortunately, Wall’s performance wasn’t enough for a Wizards’ win.

John Calipari was a guest on SiriusXM NBA Radio to discuss a handful of his players in the National Basketball Association.

The show shared a clip from the interview when Calipari was talking about his three star big men — DeMarcus Cousins, Anthony Davis and Karl-Anthony Towns — and how, though they’re putting up outrageous numbers, they’re not having fun because their teams are so bad.

It includes a “Anthony Davis took the fifth-most shots,” too:

Then Calipari went on to talk about Devin Booker, who did not start one game at Kentucky and is receiving just as much praise as Towns as one of the future stars of the league:

After his Kings took an L to the Knicks, Cousins hit the streets of New York City for a night on the town with Matt Barnes. It did not end well. Barnes allegedly choked a woman during an argument. When two others tried to intervene, he allegedly punched them.

The police were searching for Barnes for questioning early Monday morning. The police were not looking for Cousins, but in this video, Cousins is complains about his hand hurting. TMZ and NESN believe it’s because Cousins threw a punch too. See for yourself.

Regardless of his degree of involvement, it’s not Boogie’s best PR move.

If one thing has become abundantly clear in the first month and a half of the NBA season, it’s that Anthony Davis is back. Anthony now leads the NBA in scoring (31.8 points per game), blocks (2.75 per game), and player efficiency (31.87) after his eighth 35+ point, 10+ rebound game of the season last night. Needless to say, he leads off our BBNBA roundup today.

Anthony Davis, Pelicans (101-92 loss to the Thunder)

MIN

FG

3PT

FT

OREB

DREB

REB

AST

STL

BLK

TO

PF

+/-

PTS

43

14-32

0-1

9-11

5

10

15

2

2

4

3

3

-10

37

As mentioned earlier, Davis has scored 35+ points and grabbed 10+ rebounds in eight games so far this season. That’s bonkers, as is this sick crossover:

Terrence Jones, Pelicans (101-92 loss to the Thunder)

MIN

FG

3PT

FT

OREB

DREB

REB

AST

STL

BLK

TO

PF

+/-

PTS

25

4-6

0-0

1-2

1

6

7

0

0

1

2

2

+2

9

Teammate Terrence Jones had a solid outing, going for 9 points and 7 rebounds off the bench. This breakaway slam was impressive:

Another note: Rajon Rondo has been suspended from the Bulls’ game vs. the Trail Blazers tonight for “conduct detrimental to the team.” According to The Vertical, Rondo got into a “vociferous postgame exchange” with an assistant coach.

Last week, Sacramento Kings superstar and former Wildcat DeMarcus Cousins gave a local family in Sacramento the experience of a lifetime.

Mari Hill and her son, Marion, were flown out to New York City, where Cousins took them on a tour of all of the biggest landmarks in the Big Apple, a trip to the NBA Store for a shopping spree, and the Kings game against the New York Knicks that night.

The family chosen was found through the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Sacramento, as the Hill’s have had a life of overcoming adversities. Mari overcame a serious drug addiction several years back, an issue that left her jobless and in a rough position to raise her son, Marion. They found the Boys and Girls Club, where Cousins regularly visits to help as much as he can, and the opportunity blossomed from there.

The Hill’s were joined by several underprivileged children in NYC, a gesture that was obviously appreciated by all parties involved.

Check out just a few quotes from the Sacramento big man in this NBA.com article:

“Any little gesture, any little way I can help, I’m all for it,” the Kings superstar said following the shopping spree. “Making somebody else’s life easier, why wouldn’t I do it?

“I’m just glad I can help put a smile on somebody’s face,” Cousins added.

Cousins has an intense schedule of charity events coming up in Sacramento, including one where he plans on giving away over 4,000 bikes to local children for the holidays.

This season with the Suns, Knight has averaged 13.1 points per game, 34% from behind the arch and 37% from the field. Unfortunately for Knight, this season has been tainted with trade rumors as he’s fighting for playing time with Eric Bledsoe, Devin Booker and Tyler Ulis.

However, that hasn’t stopped him because he’s still doing things like this:

Dakari Johnson is starting his NBA D-League season the right way. Johnson won the D-League’s first Player of the Month Award for the 2016-17 season.

Dakari averaged 19.7 points, 8.6 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 2.1 blocked shots (tied for fourth in the D-League) in the month of November. He led his team to a 6-3 record and scored 20 or more points six times.

Dakari’s just getting started. In his last game he had a career-high 28 points with a season-high 11 rebounds and 5 assists. Check out some highlights from his first month of action.

It was a slow night for former Kentucky Wildcats in the NBA last night, as only five former Cats suited up for their respective squads. For most colleges, having five guys in NBA action on a given night would be a lot, but for Kentucky and a few other schools, it is a slow night. Let’s take a look at what the former UK guys did last night.

Andrew Harrison, Memphis Grizzlies (95-94 win over Magic)

Min

FG

3PT

FT

OREB

DREB

REB

AST

STL

BLK

TO

PF

+/-

PTS

30

4-8

0-0

3-6

0

4

4

8

0

1

2

3

+5

11

Andrew Harrison was one of two Cats to put a defender in the spin cycle last night.

It took him a little while to get going, but now Jamal Murray is making some serious noise in the NBA and in the league’s Rookie of the Year race.

Today, Murray was named Rookie of the Month for October/November in the Western Conference after averaging 10.4 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists through his first 18 games.

The former Wildcat finished his first month in the NBA ranked second among all rookies in scoring (first in the West); third in free throw percentage; fourth in three-point percentage; ninth in field goal percentage; ninth in assists and tenth in rebounds. His 32 made threes are 10 more than the next closest rookie.

Joel Embiid took home the East’s Rookie of the Month honor and is Murray’s only serious challenger for Rookie of the Year so far.

Karl-Anthony Towns is an absolute monster on the basketball court. In just his second season in the NBA, Towns is already one of the best players in the league. Last night, he showed just exactly what he is capable of when he’s got it going. A career high in points and the second highest rebound total of his career, but it wasn’t enough to bring home a W for the Timberwolves.

Karl-Anthony Towns, Minnesota Timberwolves (106-104 loss to Knicks)

Min

FG

3PT

FT

OREB

DREB

REB

AST

STL

BLK

TO

PF

+/-

PTS

42

15-22

0-3

17-20

3

15

18

2

1

3

4

2

+7

47

We could write this whole post on Towns’ highlights, but we’ll condense it to a few. Got to start with the dunk from the picture above.